Merriwa (pop: 1,000) is a small, rural town located in the Upper Hunter Valley region of NSW, situated on the Golden Highway. The area was first explored by Europeans in the late 1820s, and the town officially laid out in 1839. Historically an agricultural centre, particularly known for its sheep production, the town`s name is said to come from the Wiradjuri word for "grass seeds." Merriwa`s history is visible in a pleasant streetscape, with several historic buildings. The town is renowned for its quirky annual Festival of the Fleeces, where sheep, adorned with red socks, run through the main street, not quite the running of the bulls in Pamplona! Merriwa lived up to its reputation for our visit, when it was beautiful and sunny although cool, but we were mainly there to trace some family history.
Our drive into Merriwa was most pleasant. There certainly has been wet weather in the last weeks and month, and it must be different in drought, but the countryside was just so pretty and green. All the fields and rolling hills looked great, and the sheep seemed to be fat and healthy to our inexpert eyes. What a difference decent rains make!
Looking Back, Forging Ahead...
Our first port of call in town was to be the Merriwa Historical Society, and we timed our scheduled for a Tuesday which, according to their website, was an `open` day. It was firmly closed, and when we went nearby to the Merriwa Tourist Welcoming Centre (which was open but was more like an opportunity shop) the volunteer there explained that there was a shortage of volunteers. This seems to be the fate of small towns everywhere. She sent us to the Upper Hunter Shire Council Office futher up Bettington St. The lady there was very helpful, she took us hand-in-hand next door and introduced us to the town librarian. In turn the librarian pointed us to the references most likely to be useful in our search for family information. We have explained this in detail so as to emphasise the cooperation and assistance we enjoyed, at no charge, at the hands of Merriwa locals. This country hospitality would be much less likely in the city!
The Tourist Welcoming Centre has its own highlights. In the forecourt, there was the most stunning mural we have seen, more of a sculpture really, because it was made of recycled materials mounted proud of the wall behind it. The mural `Looking Back, Forging Ahead` was of corroded corrugated iron recovered from nearby sheds. The artists were Murrurundi sculptors Fran Wachtel and Charlotte Drake Brockman. The artwork features a dray of wool pulled by bullocks, a mob of sheep lead by a ram herded by kelpies, a flight of galahs, a windmill, a horse and a shed. We have never seen Australiana so beautiful. And we just stumbled upon it on a one day visit to town!
The Family Bakery...
The Merriwa Librarian was so friendly and helpful. She pointed us to the most likely references, and the best by far was Merriwa ... Thru The Lens, a weighty tome produced in 2023 by Elaine Sparrow. This probably amateur historian has done a stirling job chronicling (yep, I`ve checked that spelling) the earlier days of Merriwa, and in it we found several references including photographs to Mike`s grandfather. We were stunned! We read that he was quite the entrepreneur and opened up a bakery in Merriwa within a year or two of his arrival as an impoverished migrant on a ship from the Baltic states in 1904. Armed with that information, we were able to locate the original oven of that bakery on the grounds of a mechanic`s workshop. The mechanic himself was just another friendly and helpful resident of Merriwa.